


Father Christmas

by Caedmon



Series: Precious Girl [6]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-16
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2018-09-08 23:51:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8868046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caedmon/pseuds/Caedmon
Summary: The Doctor was Father Christmas one time.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Day sixteen of ['Advent'.](http://archiveofourown.org/series/596995)

Jackie tutted, hands on hips, watching her son-in-law string lights on the tree with a disapproving look. 

“You’re putting them too close together.”

“Makes the tree look more full,” he answered, unperturbed. 

“No it doesn’t, you plonker. It just makes it look more sparkly.”

“I’d have thought that you, Jackie Tyler, of all people, would appreciate more sparkle.”

“Are you having a go at me?”

“Am not!”

“Are, too!”

“Alright, you lot, knock it off,” Rose called from the dining room where she sat with Emma, feeding the little girl strained pairs between handfuls of cheerios. 

“Rose,” Jackie whined, “I’ve only got so many lights, and your daft alien -”

“Oi!”

“- is using them all on the bottom half of the tree!”

Rose dipped the spoon back into the jar of pears. “If we run out of lights, we’ll just dash out and get some more. It won’t be the end of the world.”

“Oh, and you’d know all about the end of the world, wouldn’t you?”

“Yeah, actually,” Rose replied easily. “I’ve seen it. Our first date. We had chips after, and the Doctor forgot his wallet.”

“That was _one time_ ,” he complained.

“You two are daft,” Jackie grumbled. 

“No more than you,” the Doctor muttered, earning himself a smacked shoulder from his mother-in-law and a warning look from his wife. Emma just gurgled happily, banging her hands down on the messy tray in front of her in a show of nine-month-old exuberance. 

“I wish you wouldn’t feed her that rubbish, Rose,” the Doctor said with a sour look. “She smells like it for hours after.”

“She likes it,” Rose shrugged, bringing another spoonful up and opening her mouth wide to remind Emma what to do.

“No child of mine would eat that rubbish. Maybe I should get a paternity test.” 

“ _OI!_ ”

He ducked the napkin ring that came flying at him, which put him in close range for another smack to the shoulder from Jackie. 

“Ow!”

“You deserved that,” Rose said in a smug tone, seeming satisfied with his punishment.

“He deserves worse!” Jackie declared, hands on hips. 

“I was only kidding! Emma’s my baby, anyone can see it. Everyone in several star systems knows it.” He gave Rose an imploring look. “Rose, you know I was only kidding.”

“I know. But it wasn’t funny.”

The Doctor grumbled and turned back to his work with the lights on the tree. 

Rose scraped the bottom of the little container, getting out the last of the pears and swooping it towards Emma’s mouth. When she was done, she went to the kitchen to fetch a paper towel and set about cleaning the baby up before she pulled the little girl out of her chair. The Doctor watched with half an eye as Rose sat the baby down beside the coffee table and Emma reached for one of the toys lying there. 

“She’s such a precious girl,” Jackie cooed, smiling at her granddaughter. The Doctor didn’t agree with his mother-in-law as a rule, but he couldn’t help it this time. He smiled down at his little girl, too. Emma paid neither of them any mind, just picked up a rattle and shook it twice before she stuck it straight into her mouth. 

Jackie sighed. “Reckon I need to figure out what to get my grandbaby for Christmas.”

“We’ve already got that figured out, Mum. No need to buy anything.”

“But it’s my right!” she protested. “She’s my only grandchild!”

Rose shrugged. “We’ve had a chat with Father Christmas. Everything is sorted.”

“Father Christmas. Ha! Suppose next you’ll tell me that he’s real!”

“He is,” the Doctor interjected. “Why? Don’t you believe?”

“Of course not,” Jackie snorted. “I was always Father Christmas for my Rose.”

“Not every time…” Rose said cryptically. The Doctor just gave her a knowing smile. 

Jackie’s eyes darted between the two of them. “Wait a minute,” she said pointing a finger at nothing, then focusing on the Doctor. “Are you...are you saying that _he_ is _Father Christmas_?”

“You don’t have to sound so shocked,” he groused. 

“But...but that’s impossible!”

“Thought you’d known me long enough by now to know that ‘impossible’ doesn’t mean the same thing to me as it does you. And really,” he went on. “Is it such a surprise?”

“Well...yeah!”

The Doctor placed the last of the lights he had - Jackie had been right, they were going to need more - and went to sit at one end of the couch. “It shouldn’t be. I was Father Christmas for Rose one year. When she was twelve.”

“You were not!” Jackie insisted. “It was always me!”

The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her. “1998. It was a rougher year than usual for you, and you worried about getting Rose what she wanted - a red bicycle.”

Jackie just stared at him, her jaw slack, and he went on. “Christmas Eve, you put Rose to bed and waited until she was asleep to put out the toys and gifts you’d been able to scrape together. Then you went to bed yourself and cried.”

“I remember,” she said in a small voice.

Emma crawled over to her daddy, pulling up on his legs and reaching for him. He scooped her up and settled her on his lap, placing a kiss on top of her downy head. 

“I waited until you were both asleep. It was a bit after two, as I recall. The flat was quiet, so I sonicked the lock as silently as possible, then tiptoed in with the bike. It had a gold bow on the handlebars, remember?”

Jackie didn’t answer, just nodded and wiped her eyes. Emma tugged at his lapel and, ignoring the scent of pears wafting from her, he put her on his shoulder. She lay her head down, burying her face in his neck, and he stroked her back absently. 

“I was clumsy, though, and knocked one of the frames off the mantel. It made a noise. I woke you up.”

She just stared at him, her face disbelieving. Rose came over to the couch and nestled into the opposite end from the Doctor, curling her feet underneath her and cradling a cuppa. She gave him a smile. He smiled back at her, then went back to his story. 

“I heard you up and moving around, and I ran to hide. It was the most pathetic hiding place ever - I stood behind the curtains, just over there,” he pointed at the picture window, “but it was dark and somehow you missed me. You’d forgotten to put on your dressing gown and believe you me, that was much more of Jackie Tyler than I ever wanted to see.”

Rose swatted at him gently, but Jackie didn’t notice. She was wiping her eyes, leaving black smears of mascara across her face. 

“You looked ready for war, though. Had a cricket bat up to your shoulder, ready to swing.”

“Pete always kept it beside the bed,” she breathed. “Said it was for protection. I never moved it. It’s still there.”

“You came out and demanded to know who was there, still being quiet so you didn't wake Rose. I didn’t say anything of course, that would have been daft. Just kept quiet, me. You spotted the bicycle, though, and dropped the bat. I remember you crying for a bit, whispering something. A little prayer of thanksgiving, I think. After a few minutes, you picked up the bat again and went back to bed.”

“You were here?” Jackie asked in a disbelieving tone. 

“Yep. Waited ‘til I heard you snoring - “

“I don’t snore!”

“- counted backwards from a thousand. Then I came out from behind the curtain, starting towards the door, quiet as a mouse. Stopped off on the way, though, to eat a couple of Santa’s cookies and drink his milk. Figured I’d earned it.”

Jackie just stared at him for a minute, and he started to get uncomfortable.

“Hand the baby to Rose, Doctor.”

He gave her a startled look, then looked over at Rose, panicked. Rose just smiled and peeled a sleeping Emma from his shoulder, settling back into her own spot and snuggling the baby close. Left without armor, the Doctor looked up at Jackie with wide eyes.

“Stand up,” she commanded.

He did as asked, a bit afraid to do anything else.

Jackie stared at him for a minute, tears still streaming, and he opened his mouth to speak. Before he could, she cuffed him in the arm. 

“Ow!”

“ _That_ is for breaking into my house. _This_ is for making my baby girl’s Christmas.” She threw her arms around him, hugging him tight, and he stood with his arms sticking out awkwardly for a minute. He caught sight of Rose: her eyes were sparkling with tears but there was a smile on her face, and he knew this moment meant a great deal to her. To be a good sport, he lowered his arms and hugged Jackie back. 

“It was my pleasure, Jackie. Making Rose happy is always my pleasure.”

She pulled back, leaving her hands on his biceps, and just smiled up at him with pursed, trembling lips. The Doctor didn’t know what to do, so he just stood there. 

“Right then,” Jackie said suddenly, clapping her hands together and turning away as if there hadn’t just been an incredibly tender and awkward moment between them. “I guess that means that the subject of Father Christmas is settled. But I’m still getting her a little something for her first Christmas.”

“Mum -”

“Don’t ‘ _Mum_ ’ me, young lady. You might be married and a mother, but you’re still my daughter and I’ll still take a switch to you, don’t think I won’t.”

Rose grinned at the empty promise and bounced Emma a little. 

“Now, Doctor, you only got half of the tree done. We need more lights.”

“But -”

“Ah ah - I told you! I said we’d run out, didn’t I?”

“Can you _at least_ admit it looks better with more lights?” he asked, trying for any victory, small though it might have been.

She eyed the tree skeptically with her hands on her hips again. “Could do. Need to see the whole tree to decide. Now, _go!_ ”

He grumbled but started towards the door, bending to kiss his daughter and wife on the top of the head as he passed them. 

“Back in a bit.”

“We’ll be here,” Rose promised. 

He went to the door but took a look back before he opened it to leave. Jackie was crying silently again, and Rose lay her head over on her mother’s shoulder. He gave a little smile and opened the door, heading down to get more lights. There was no need to go out into the Christmas rush: the TARDIS would have just what he needed.


End file.
